I suppose by now it is old news that there is a correlation between children watching television and various ills such as more aggressive behaviour, lower reading skills, attention-deficit disorders, obesity, and so forth. But that’s from the standard televised garbage. It is still widely thought, though, that educational programs are good for children, a belief that has nicely lined the pockets of numerous makers of educational videos. But a recent study of one segment of this market, i.e., videos for infants and toddlers, challenges the claims that the videos do some good. In fact, there was a significant negative correlation between watching videos like Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby and language ability. How significant? A 17% drop in vocabulary for every hour watched per day, after controlling for variables like socioeconomic status, race, and parental education. The study was based on interviews, so the researchers aren’t making any claims about causality. Still, it’s interesting stuff. Though I don’t see much reason to be surprised by the results. For those interested, the study is in the Aug. 7, 2007 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
Sydney
Alan Schmierer
I know I always feel bad when my kids watch TV and try to keep it at a minimum.
I fear though Sydney, that computers may have the same or similar effect on young children, as too much TV. With the advent of computers, the way brains assimilate and process information is changing. The continual flicker of screens, the instant screen changes, movements and colors – all affect the brain differently from the non or low use computer brains. The upcoming generations and their evolution will be interesting to watch!
I don’t think the idea is that the videos themselves have a damaging effect, more that each hour spent alone in front of a TV is an hour the baby doesn’t spend interacting with a live person (from which they can learn language). Language acquisition depends on contingent interactions, so babies don’t learn words from TV in the early stages.
As far as Mom’s claims about computers, yes they will probably have effects on children as well. However, there are a few significant differences between TV- and computer-use in children: 1) Children are put in front of the TV from infancy, whereas they aren’t given computer programs until they’re 2 or 3; 2) Interactions with computers do have a contingency to them (the computer reacts to what you do) unlike watching a TV program which will go on regardless of your actions – a computer acts more like a living creature, and might be perceived (for better or worse) as more animate by a child.
Somehow I don’t think Erin & Sydney’s kids will be watching too much TV anyway…
-L
One of the covariates accounted for in the study’s analysis is parent-child interaction, so I’m not sure how much can be explained by noting that watching videos takes time away from interactions with live people. Though there could still be a residual confounding of various sorts, e.g., if the parents put too much trust in the videos and as a result are less active in encouraging language development during their interaction with the child.
I suspect you’re right in thinking that our kids won’t spend too much time in front of the TV. I wonder if there are any studies on the effects of reading Anna Karenina to infants …
Sydney
Begin that reading aloud to your children while they are in the womb, Sydney – and continue from the moment they are born. And for fun – throw in a bit of German-:)